Now, while it has long been the law that the government cannot support one religion over another, or religion over non-religion, there have been some exceptions. “In God we Trust” “One Nation, Under God”

But Tennessee is leading the charge when it comes to freedom of religion in public schools. Students at all kinds of school events can now give religious speeches. BUT there must be a disclaimer that said students’ speech is not the stated position of the school.

And said student’s speech is not limited to school events. Kids can now freely express their religous beliefs in the hallways between classes and said ‘voluntary speech’ cannot be quelched by school officials. So if a student’s religion says gays are an abomination and should be eradicated from the planet, the student is free to say so. Presumably, this freedom of speech extends to Wiccan’s casting a spell on their comrades who say all witches should be burned at the stake.

But that’s not all. There’s more. “Students may express their written beliefs about religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of the student’s submissions. … Students may not be penalized or rewarded based on the religous content of the student’s work.”

Having spent the better part of the summer analyzing 7th grade texts in Social Studies and Life Sciences published by Bob Jones University Press, I do believe that for conservative christian students raised according to the biblical interpretation of history and science, life just got a whole lot easier in Tennessee. God’s Providence and Adam’s Sin explains just about everything one needs to know about history and science.

Andn we wonder why our kids don’t outscore the rest of the world when it comes to public education outcomes.

He hits on all the major points very well that is not appearing much in the American media:
1. Scotland has achieved enough localized power in last 15 years to piss off the English already (see the West Lothian Question – which has never actually been answered by anyone – incidentally I voted for this MP in 1987 when I lived in West Lothian)
2. The Scottish vote is more likely to damage the entire fabric of the UK and of the EU than any other since Denmark voted against the Maastrict Treaty. Never have 5m people (you only vote if resident!) held as big a bomb in a crowded marketplace.
3. The leaders of the ‘Yes’ campaign have shamlessly exploited false information (the amount of oil they have, being able to keep the Uk currency, Eu membership) and whipped up anti-English sentiment (hmm where does that sound similar) – so much so that the ‘pro-Russian separatists’ in Ukraine have come out in full support (great friends to have)….

Is there any way we here in Amurka might encourage Scotland and Ukraine to join up with our Deep South (including OK and Tejas, maybe also Idaho and Utah?) so we can watch in peace and with popcorn as they all run off to seek their collective fortune(s)?

That could work. Actually, after serious thought I’d really hate to so diminish Scotland by giving them our South. As for fencing — or better yet, walling — the South off, I’m forced to rely on the Scottish Bard, Robert Burns, for his words of wisdom:

“Lord, to account who dares thee call,
Or e’er dispute thy pleasure?
Else why, within so thick a wall,
Enclose so poor a treasure?”

I’m thinking that in Burns context, even a chicken wire fence around the South would satisfy his “why, within so thick a wall” notion.

Some of these poor kids are going to be in for a big surprise when they realize that the sum of their biblically based knowledge qualifies them for a job flipping burgers, and not much more.
Minimum wage guarantee, for life.
Congratulations parental religious wingnuttia.

Is anyone surprised that inSeannity was whipped with a belt as a child? This whole sordid incident with Adrian Peterson might end up doing some good. His children might end up receiving court ordered psychological care and more rightwhiners might come forth to claim; “I was beaten as a kid and I turned out O.K.”. Of course, we sane people have a different idea of what it means to be O.K.

“For some time I have been disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment. It has become an operational and at times a policy-making arm of the Government. This has led to trouble and may have compounded our difficulties in several explosive areas. I never had any thought that when I set up the CIA that it would be injected into peacetime cloak and dagger operations. Some of the complications and embarrassment I think we have experienced are in part attributable to the fact that this quiet intelligence arm of the President has been so removed from its intended role that it is being interpreted as a symbol of sinister and mysterious foreign intrigue—and a subject for cold war enemy propaganda.

With all the nonsense put out by Communist propaganda about “Yankee imperialism,” “exploitive capitalism,” “war-mongering,” “monopolists,” in their name-calling assault on the West, the last thing we needed was for the CIA to be seized upon as something akin to a subverting influence in the affairs of other people… I, therefore, would like to see the CIA be restored to its original assignment as the intelligence arm of the President, and that whatever else it can properly perform in that special field—and that its operational duties be terminated or properly used elsewhere,” – Harry Truman, December 22, 1963.